Adventure Game Studio

DOWNLOAD (http://www.mediafire.com/download/25fap96zmy1cawg/AALiens_RootsV2.zip)
Download from the AGS Games List (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1712/)


(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm54/miguel20000/26d7f917-e536-461f-9c11-f35c500cce62_zpsb0437c36.jpg)(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm54/miguel20000/1fcd778c-98fa-4591-8561-873302160558_zpsd0a1130c.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm54/miguel20000/88d48ff9-7cc1-4641-b72f-e968a1fb9c19_zps4a7557cc.jpg)

DOWNLOAD (http://www.mediafire.com/download/25fap96zmy1cawg/AALiens_RootsV2.zip)
AGS Games List (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1712/)

================================================================================================================================
Please do comment this game here or at gamejolt.
If you really want to help me and the rest of the crew check the game at indiesale.

Have fun!

Sounds good. That background art is awesome. Downloading now.

Quote from: miguel on Sat 27/07/2013 14:18:55
[...]

This must be the worst presentation ever on this forums, but I really suck at this...

[...]

Why are you so nervous? You must be proud of yourself and your team. :)

Quote from: Sunny Penguin on Sat 27/07/2013 14:35:40
Sounds good. That background art is awesome. Downloading now.

As Sunny Penguin said, the graphics are simply awesome. I've added your game along with Sunny Penguin's game, to download them a.s.a.p, when my data plan will be renewed. I'll update you in near future.

QuoteSounds good. That background art is awesome. Downloading now

Thanks SP, hope you enjoy it.

QuoteI'll update you in near future.

Please do Adeel, have fun playing it.

Ancient Aliens...

Are you a big fan of the History Channel by any chance?  Because there's a show on H2 (the second History Channel) and occasionally on the main History Channel called "Ancient Aliens".  As that one teacher in "The Incredibles" would say: "Coincidence?  I think NOT!"

Anyway, the screenshots show this looks like a rather neat game.

This looks terrific Miguel! 

Congrats on this release, miguel and team  :)

Dboy:
I know and sometimes watch the TV series. I like the idea and possibilities of it, it fits the adventure game genre like a glove.
Thanks for the kind comments on the screenshots. Hope you play it and let me know what you think.

CaptainD:
Thanks man, hope you enjoy playing it!

ArjOn:
Couldn't make it without your help my friend. Thank you so much.

This is a very cool game. But why doesn't it have it's own page in the AGS games list? :confused:

Great job. Except the nice backgrounds, it has nice music and very interesting story.

Ponch, thank you sir! Your work is an inspiration.
I've added the game:AGS DataBase (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1712/)

Tremulas, thank you very much my friend. You did some top quality pesky-bug hunting!

  Congrats on the release!  Kudos to whoever handled graphics; I like the style.

Cheers kconan, hope you enjoy the gameplay as well.

Looking good :) Congrats on release :-)

Thanks Stu, have fun playing it!

Congrats on the release! Anyone looking for a nice classic point-n-click experience in the vein of Broken Sword should give it a try, and I'm not just saying that because I've helped with some of the graphics. :)

Just in case that somebody on the forums does not know Ilyich talent, check his work on Patchwork.
He's just brilliant. Period.
Answering kconan as well, I drew the backgrounds  and had the Pleasure of Ilyich doing all the colouring and in cases some perspective adjustments. I'll show some of our work as soon as I get home.
Anyway, Ilyich, I was very lucky to have you on board!
Thank you.

Just started playing it, having fun!  (nod)

         (http://www.smileyvault.com/albums/userpics/12962/bravo.gif)
Congrats for the release of such a cool game!

Thanks Tabata! Really glad you're enjoying it!
It's an honour to get one of your animated icons! :smiley:


Here's some artwork from the game, before and after Ilyich magic:

(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm54/miguel20000/room3_apartment_BW_zpsca1b1db6.gif)(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm54/miguel20000/room3_apartment_col_zpsd7fb5b7c.gif)

Wow. Stunning artwork! Can't wait to find a quite minute to give this game a try. Looks very promising.

Thanks cianty, I'd love to hear what you have to say about the game.

Hey Miguel and team!

I've had a chance to play it a bit, lovely game and some pretty tough (but not unreasonable) puzzles - I was in that hotel lobby quite a while trying to figure it out. 

I'm not sure about the rest of the game but it looks like the English proofreading still needs a little work though - in the scene immediately after you go up in the hotel elevator, I came across "payed" and "surtainly", which should have been "paid" and "certainly".  I don't want to be nit-picky - I've certainly enjoyed the game so far - but it's something you should be aware of.

Graphics, music, interface, plot and characters - big thumbs up!  (nod)

CaptainD, thanks for the warning, we'll sure fix that ASAP.

Glad you didn't find the puzzles unreasonable. It seems to me that modern games (casual ones, mostly) are becoming too easy for the players, with pretty icons everywhere telling them what to do next...I'm rambling now, but it's very important to us to know the opinion on the puzzles.
 
Thanks for the thumbs up! :)

Quote from: CaptainD on Sun 28/07/2013 18:50:16
I'm not sure about the rest of the game but it looks like the English proofreading still needs a little work though - in the scene immediately after you go up in the hotel elevator, I came across "payed" and "surtainly", which should have been "paid" and "certainly".  I don't want to be nit-picky - I've certainly enjoyed the game so far - but it's something you should be aware of.

Thanks for digging those out CaptainD, I only got the latest script on Friday and I've been unable to work the weekend due to family commitments. I've amended the errors you pointed out and a few others ones I have noticed and the latest version has been sent to miguel to update as we speak.

Cheers

Stee

Congrats on your release miguel!

I wish I could have helped out more. It's a very promising start to what looks like a fun and adventurous story.

Congrats to the rest of the team as well.

@Stee - I didn't notice any others after that, so I think they must have been largely anomalous.

Anyway - great game guys, I look forward to playing episode 2!  I'm very interested to see what you do with the storyline (and whether you have any Bill and Ted references along the way  :-D).

I am stuck in the lobby! Cannot get past receptionist..Help please!

This will help...

Hint 1

Spoiler

Something in your inventory should help you

[close]

Hint 2

Spoiler

Remember to use what's in your inventory on yourself (the player character)

[close]

Hint 3

Spoiler

Take the phone numbers from your wallet. Do this by using the wallet on Chet. Now use the numbers on the receptionist.

[close]

Thank you--actually figured it out. Great game! Anxiously waiting for another episode!

Well done with nice puzzles, but you should have made it mature content.
I never expected that you'd come up with the worlds biggest penis (http://www.smileyvault.com/albums/userpics/12962/nicht_vor_kids.gif)
Let's say, I am impressed  (http://www.smileyvault.com/albums/userpics/12962/clap.gif)

... and now I am curious about the next part (http://s7.directupload.net/images/user/120922/alren33c.gif)

Stee, I've well received your .trs file and will upload the new version today. We were very lucky to have you working with us, you did more than your part and any praise we get belongs entirely to you as well.

Nick, Thanks for everything, having one of my favourite authors working with us was a real asset and a honour. Thank you for the hints you provided as well.

CaptainD, thanks for the typos again and for the good comments! Now, Bill and Ted Bogus Adventures can be referenced, yeah... :smiley:

gspit1124, glad you found your way, and thanks for the praise! We hope to deliver good quality content soon!

Tabata, I promise that we won't be showing the world biggest penis. Or are we? :=
Thanks for playing, we hope you had fun with the game.

EDIT: CaptainD, just saw this Review (http://zatungames.com/ancient-aliens-the-roots-of-sound/), thanks man!

I completed this game.

I enjoyed the graphics and music. The plot seems like it has a lot of potential. The segment of plot that's played in this game is more of an introduction so it will be interesting to see how it progresses. I will say that it reminded me of Indiana Jones.

As far as the puzzles, I did not find them too easy or too difficult. I think they are in the sweet spot where they really make the game what it is rather than frustrate the user.

Good job!

SHADOW

Thank you so much Shadow,
this is indeed an introduction to characters and story.
We're really glad that you enjoyed the puzzles, it was/is our "hardest problem" on the project and the thing I dedicate more attention to player feedback.

Thank you sir!

wow this game looks great! downloading now :)

Completed the game. Looking forward to the next. The Lionel Richie reference and disguise puzzle were really funny, kudos.

I'm trying to run this game, but every time I get past the game crashes and I get a popup reading 'Error: Error running function 'Room_AfterFadeIn':    Error: Null pointer reference

Any idea how to fix this?

Every time you get past the ?    The game crashes.

Can you explain a little bit more about where and when this happens, I'm sure miguel will look into it.

Sorry, every time I get past the intro cutscene the game crashes giving me that error message I gave before.

gumpy13, like Nicky said, I could use some more info,
can you tell me when it happens in more detail? The intro cutscene has several parts(rooms) where it can be skipped. Did you wait for the intro to finish and then it crashed? Was it halfway?
Also, how are you running the game? Did you altered the setup?

shaun9991, thanks for playing!

Sunny Penguin, thanks my friend. I haven't completed The White Lady yet but the atmosphere is pretty cool and scary. You did a great job there!

Loving it so far -- although I haven't gotten very far, got hopelessly stuck

Spoiler

in the apartment, and I can't get the key from under the bed nohow. Help!

[close]

The backgrounds are really stylish, with rough contours and toned down color palette, and the music's really climatic. I'm really curious how this jazzy story relates to the eponymous ancient aliens :)

Hi Fitz, as you well know, Aliens come in different sizes, appearance and humour. The only thing we can be sure is that: They're Here!.
Thanks for the praises and for playing,

Spoiler

Search the vase with the plant...closely...you may find something that will help you getting the key under the bed.

[close]

Ah, quite a pixel hunting puzzle there. There have been some tricky hotspots indeed. Also, having Chet as a clickable character often obscures other clickable hotspots/people.

Anyway, I've played some more and I like how it develops, Chet's suave attitude seems to be an actual asset rather than just a gimmick. The action sequences came a bit unexpected -- but they're not at all out of place in a game like that. I've actually watched The Adventures of Tintin the other day and it's a similar experience. Also, the art style and the gloomy music often made me think of Barely Floating.

EDIT: Finished :)

Fitz, the solution is in the very same room, look closer :)

EDIT: ah, you finished it right before my post :)

Downloading your game at the moment. Thought I should let you know. :)

First of all, I apologize for the double post.

Just completed your game, miguel. Here's my opinion:

The way the game is started and the credits are introduced is extremely professional! Graphics are fantastic and contain a touch of professionalism. The background art is simply fabulous. Especially the cinema-stripped cutscenes add an extra value to the game (inspired by Barely Floating, eh? ;)).

All characters are well thought of. They perform their roles efficiently. Especially, you can't forget Chet too soon. He's just like Larry gifted with extra luck, handsomeness and successfulness with ladies :D.

The story seems interesting. The music is great too.  The interface is excellent. I like the idea of keeping a journal to keep track of the story. I appreciate your auto-save feature. The puzzles were not too hard for me but all of them made sense. This was in fact a plus point for me, since I mostly require walkthroughs of many adventure games. I liked the way you curiously introduced your fellow agsers. Find some place for my reference in your next episode, will you :P? .

My two all-time favourite puzzles were:

1.

Spoiler

When you have to fake your appearance. Took me some time to understand it, but after that managed to solve it quite easily.

[close]

2.

Spoiler

When Chet uses the Bible to break the lock (I knew that was coming when I had first investigated the drawers before investigating the lock :D). Plus, this reduces your supposed image of stubborn religious man. (If people remember the religious discussion that took place sometime ago.

[close]

To put it short and simple: Great Work by Miguel and his team. Congratulations to all of you!

However, there are two complains and two advices for you regarding your game:

Complains:

1-

Spoiler

Glitch: I came across this glitch in the hotel's lobby when I had managed to fool the goons. When Chet stood up, the lady and the table between the sofas were drawn above Chet while the sofa in which lady was sitting was drawn behind the Chet. I re-walked him to the said place (after Chet had stood up and was free to move anywhere) and the result was same. Btw, I used Direct 3D 9 in the winsetup.

[close]

2- Not really a complain. Maybe another compliment for you :)? Anyways, the game was too short. While I understand that the game is meant to be episodic series, I was sad to see it end just at the peak of suspense. Either make this episode longer or release another one ASAP.

Advices:

1- While the interface is excellent. I were missing the shortcut keys for Dialog Boxes and Verb Actions . You should definitely add them, especially the Save and Restore Dialog.

2- You should take some time to compose .pdf or .txt file. Explaining the controls, spoiler-free introduction and credits isn't really necessary but will add the professional look to your already professional-looking game

Adeel, thanks so much for playing Ancient Aliens. I'm really glad you enjoyed it and had fun with it.
We did take a lot of time on writing the script. Chet and Vivian relationship is the key here but they were completely strangers at the start of the game, and the temptation to jump states was big although I think we managed to do it at a slow, steady pace.

The puzzles took me a lot of work as well and I'm proud it did. I believe I made it so that they are part of the gameplay and not something you have to do it because there's no other way to progress the story.

As for the references to "Barely Floating", you're not the first person to say that but I assure you that it wasn't my intention. I played that game after. But being put along such a great game is very rewarding. So thanks.

About the walk-behind glitches, that's due to the Direct3D you used. Please stick to DirectDraw.
I know, I've read Dave Gilbert post and he was kind enough to send it to me a few months ago. The next instalment will have most of his recommendations.

.pdf or .txt sounds good. Will work on it.

Adeel, you were very kind and I hope to produce a better chapter soon!


   

I just started this game right away it got confusing:

Spoiler

I ended up in the apartment and he started raving about some key that I never heard of. I figured I missed something, so I started over and found the drawer in the backstage room. Suggestion: make it impossible to leave the backstage room until having looked at the locked drawer.

[close]

Another suggestion: make the scrollwheel switch tool like in the Ben Jordan games. Essentially the scrollwheel just acts as an extra right button.

Thanks for the suggestions Limony and thanks for playing the game!

Quote from: Adeel S. Ahmed on Tue 13/08/2013 03:18:55
1-

Spoiler

Glitch: I came across this glitch in the hotel's lobby when I had managed to fool the goons. When Chet stood up, the lady and the table between the sofas were drawn above Chet while the sofa in which lady was sitting was drawn behind the Chet. I re-walked him to the said place (after Chet had stood up and was free to move anywhere) and the result was same. Btw, I used Direct 3D 9 in the winsetup.

[close]

I don't know how the scene was created, but I think that may be related to the IgnoreWalkbehinds property. D3D9 mode cannot handle them properly.
If that's the case, I may suggest authors to review how they make the scene, and abstain from using IgnoreWalkbehinds at all, and use combination of Baselines instead (related discussion: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=48907.msg636468585#msg636468585).
I think this screenshot made by Andail is from "Ancient Aliens" as well?
http://www.esseb.com/andail/weirdness.png
I believe it is exactly the case of "ignore walkbehind" property.

On other hand, if no objects or characters had "IgnoreWalkbehinds", that might be "same baseline" ordering error, which cannot be easily fixed by developer at the moment... (unless fixed in the engine at some point).

Okay Crimson, thanks. I've been following all the threads concerning the D3D9 walkbehinds waiting for a solution. Yes, the link you posted is from Ancient Aliens as well.

Quote from: miguel on Tue 13/08/2013 11:44:36
[...] Adeel, you were very kind and I hope to produce a better chapter soon!

Thanks. The least I can do for a free and excellent game. Looking forward for the next chapter. :)

I'm enjoying the game so far. :)

There is a spelling error at the start of the lobby scene. Chet says "pass" when he should say "past". And when I look at the sofa I don't understand the description. Maybe the question mark should be replaced with the word "of".

A glich:

Spoiler

Lobby: When using the newspaper on Chet, the trumpet switches place in the inventory.

[close]

Noted! Thanks!

Cool gme man!!!

Thanks Atelier!

Decided to try this with my morning coffee, and that was a great decition. I enjoyed this, the entire hotel sequence was really sweet.
Well done! Looking forward to the next part. :)

Thanks Bulbapuck!

Quote from: Bulbapuck on Wed 09/10/2013 13:28:30
Decided to try this with my morning coffee, and that was a great decition. I enjoyed this, the entire hotel sequence was really sweet.
Well done! Looking forward to the next part. :)

What coffee brand was that? I might want to repeat this culinary experiment.

Nespresso, what else?

I just found the book

Spoiler

101 Laws that You Don't Know and Can Get You in Trouble, by P.A. Bicilotti

[close]

and I am

Spoiler

giggling much!

[close]

Still playing it, good job guys!

*** edit ***

Finished! Enjoyed every bit of it, from the really pretty art (Character art and backgrounds really go well together, good job) to the cheesy lines! I hope to see new chapters soon!
It would be awesome if you could implement keyboard shortcuts for changing cursors, as it stands it's a pain to play the game on a laptop (touchpad).
Again clap clap!

Thank you very much Bicilotti!
I've noted your suggestion as well, thank you.
Have a great 2014!

(http://caffeine-fueled.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/giorgio-tsoukalos.jpeg)

Nobody??

Well, I'm a bit slow off the mark, but I finally got around to playing this.  The mood created by the background art and music was striking, some of the puzzles were quite inspired (hotel lobby, broom closet), and the plot was intriguing and suspenseful.  And you made fun of the French, which means bonus marks! ;)  If I had to pick the best bang-for-buck improvement it would be tightening the dialog a little.  Yes, there is a lot of plot to convey for a short game (no doubt due to your episodic ambitions) and a lot of character to establish (don't cut the hilarious bits!), but it seemed like too much at times.  Overall it was good, though: I look forward to seeing where you take the series!

Cheers Baron, you're very kind,
and noted!

I'm doing a OSD game right now and must complete it (a blood promise to Ponch) before continuing part2 of Ancient Aliens, but the intro for AA2 is already done with animations and all. The plot is written already and this just means I've got to get working on it!

Quote from: miguel on Fri 07/02/2014 13:36:17
I've got to get working on it!

Please? :-D

QuotePlease? :-D

:):):)

Quote from: Wayne Adams on Thu 06/02/2014 19:08:32
(http://caffeine-fueled.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/giorgio-tsoukalos.jpeg)

Nobody??

Isn't that that guy who gets paid to make stuff up on the spot in front of the camera and state it as absolute fact, while at the same time contradicting himself at least 5 times per episode?

He's been like that since he got caught on the back of an interstellar spaceship that burned his face and did that (permanently) to his hair.

Quote from: miguel on Wed 12/02/2014 09:52:34
He's been like that since he got caught on the back of an interstellar spaceship that burned his face and did that (permanently) to his hair.

(laugh)(laugh)(laugh)

It is an excellent short little game. The final puzzle with the note though seemed completely unnecessary due to its lack of challenge. I just clicked each word until I hit the right one. I liked the closet puzzle though and pretty much everything else about the game. (well, except for it being so short.) I look forward to the next episode.

Thanks Seven, glad you enjoyed it!
As for the note puzzle, noted! Thanks.

I'm just about to play this for the AGS Awards, and I see that it comes with two different "translations" in addition to the original: "New Translation" and "Spelling". Presumably this is how you've fixed the spelling errors, but it's not at all obvious which one is the most current. I would have guessed "Spelling", but looking at the files, it seems like "New Translation" has been edited most recently. OTOH, the game EXE has the same date, so maybe the "Game Default" contains the most recent fixes? There's no readme or anything that provides this information, and it's not documented in this thread. So now I'm annoyed before even starting up the game, surely not the attitude you want player to have.

A tip for the future: If you're going to provide dialog fixes in the form of translation files, you need to give them more informative names, and use some sort of version number to order them.

Sorry about that Snarky and to all players that encountered this problem. It's the first time I've been told of it and I can only think that, on those final release candidate versions, I have somehow mixed up those names.
Thanks for the tip and I hope you enjoy the game.

Edit: I believe you don't have to change anything to get the correct version;